NHS launches new campaign to target early signs of life-threatening constipation in people with a learning disability

The NHS has launched a new campaign to support people with a learning disability, healthcare professionals and carers to spot the early signs of potentially life-threatening constipation.

The campaign has been co-created by people with lived experiences and uses new animation and posters for use in different care settings to support conversations about constipation.

According to NHS England, people with a learning disability are more likely to be constipated than the general population, while also being less likely to recognise the signs and be able to communicate their symptoms effectively, increasing the risk of serious complications and even death. Research carried out by LeDeR, an NHS-funded service improvement programme for people with a learning disability and autistic people, shows only 10% of the general population experience the condition while up to 50% of people with a learning disability are affected.

The campaign aims to drive awareness of the seriousness of constipation, help people recognise the signs of constipation at an early stage, empower people to take action and ensure that people with a learning disability experiencing constipation receive medical attention straight away and raise awareness of the steps which can be taken to prevent constipation.

Anne Worrall-Davies, interim national clinical director for learning disability and Autism, said: “Reviews into the deaths of people with a learning disability have shown us that far too many people are unnecessarily developing serious health conditions, with some even dying from constipation.

“That’s why our new campaign is so vital to support people with a learning disability, as well as their carers and primary care professionals, to identify the early signs of constipation and ensure they can receive the medical treatment they need at the earliest opportunity.

“Constipation can have a major impact on quality of life for so many people, and it can be really challenging for carers to recognise as they may not know the signs or may attribute the resulting behaviours to the person’s learning disability. But thanks to these new campaign resources, we hope to make the signs and symptoms easy to spot so that treatment can begin as soon as possible, reducing the risk of hospitalisation and helping save lives.”

Vijay Patel, campaigns assistant, Mencap, said: “These resources are important because constipation is one of the reasons people with a learning disability die avoidably every year. It’s important that people with a learning disability recognise when going to the loo is difficult or unhealthy and can talk to someone if they are worried about it.

“It is good that people with a learning disability, like me, have been involved in the creation of these resources because information about health needs to be accessible, jargon free and easy to read, so that people can understand them and know what to do.”

Image by Marcel Gnauk from Pixabay